Deborah Vogt was one of 17 Alaska residents chosen through Pick.Click.Give.’s “Double Your Dividend” sweepstakes to win an extra Permanent Fund Dividend this year. Vogt was randomly chosen from a group of more than 22,000 people. Vogt has been giving to local nonprofits including the Haines Animal Rescue Kennel, KHNS and the Friends of the Library since the Pick.Click.Give. program started in 2009. Vogt has already donated some of her extra dividend to the Takshanuk Watershed Council and Chilkoot Bear Foundation.
Pam Randles was medevaced to Anchorage Saturday due to heart trouble. Daughter Amanda Randles accompanied her mom, who had just had a knee replacement at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau four days earlier. Pam had an angiogram Monday. Amanda said her mom is fine, but irritated with how the medical issues are interfering with plans.
Volunteers are sought to help add nine new holes to the disc golf course at the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds. Work parties are set for Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, and will include hauling lumber, constructing bridges, and cutting and moving brush. Contact lead volunteer Jeremy Reed for information and schedule at 303-2249.
Haines High School graduate Michael Hagen presented to Sam McPhetres’ Computer I class last week via Skype. Hagen, who graduated in 1993, talked with the class about working as a software design engineer for Google. The school’s technology integration specialist Sara Hadad said the school has been trying to use Skype more to enrich the classroom experience. For example, the third-grade class has been doing “Mystery Skype” talks with other classrooms across the country, where students use their geography skills and a form of “20 Questions” to determine where in the United States the other class is located.
Cindy Buxton is looking for judges to help out at the Drama, Debate and Forensics home meet at the Haines School Nov. 6-7. Buxton needs judges to commit to 90-minute sessions on Friday afternoon between 4 to 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Categories include debate, humorous interpretation, duet acting, dramatic interpretation and others. Call Buxton at 766-3802 or email [email protected] to volunteer.
Chuck Mitman and Lea Harris returned last week from a trip in the southern Caribbean. The couple went on two cruises to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Thomas, where they snorkeled, danced and ate good food. The couple donated to a girls’ school in St. Lucia, continuing the tradition of giving on their annual trip. Last year, in Samoa, Mitman and Harris worked with a local humane society and donated to a sexual abuse shelter for girls.
Anne Boyce and Paul Swift recently returned from their annual trip to Denmark, Maine, where they stayed at a cabin on a lake in the foothills of the White Mountains. Boyce and Swift visited family, swam in the lake and enjoyed unseasonably mild weather. They also drove up to Jackman, Maine, to visit former Haines residents Gary and Henriette Arenson. Anne’s sister Lucinda Neily Chou flew up from New Jersey to make the drive over to Belfast, Maine, to visit Anne and Lucinda’s 90-year-old aunt Carol Bisby.
The Haines Post Office recently received an award for its scanning performance. Postmaster Genevieve Bell said the award essentially measures the post office’s attention to detail in scanning and delivering packages. In the U.S. Postal Service’s last fiscal year, the Haines Post Office delivered 97,811 packages.
Marirose Evenden celebrated her 14th birthday this week with an epic, town-wide scavenger hunt organized by mom Leslie Evenden, Sara Chapell and Rich Chapell. Two eight-person teams competed in the hunt, which took the teens to the post office, Lookout Park, the Haines School’s Friendship Pole, the Bamboo Room, the library and the Klondike. In addition to following the clues, the teams also had to record themselves spelling “Haines” with their bodies, getting their feet wet, and dancing in a grocery store. Marirose said the final clue, leading the groups to the Klondike for a pizza party, was hardest: “Disney built it. It’s here now. They use a lot of toppings that come from a cow.” Each team was also given a “Get Out of Jail Free” card to present to adults wondering why the teens were running around town unattended.
Janet Kurz recently returned from a three-week vacation in Virginia. Janet stayed with her oldest granddaughter, Tiffany Anderson, Tiffany’s boyfriend Dustin Gladfelter and great-granddaughter Alyssa Gladfelter. She also visited with granddaughter Kimberly Robertson, Adam Robertson and their children Connor and Raleigh, as well as her son Karl Kurz and his daughter Mackenzie.